December 22, 2002
Solstice Cloudy at Palenque

My friends at Palenque had cloudy weather yesterday for the winter solstice. As a result, they could not do some of the observations of building alignments they had planned. I'm remembering sunset on summer solstice, 2001, when I went with them to the tower of the Palace. There I saw what Alfonso had discovered as a boy - the projection of a T-shaped Ik character in a special niche, designed for that day.

Today in the New York Times (free registration required) there is an interesting reflection on sun alignments in several buidings, from as many cultures, including a complex in Uaxactun in Guatemala. Jean Gardner of Parsons School of Design in Manhattan is quoted, "The last 150 years is the first time architecture has not related to the universe. We have no sense now where we fit in."

The Universe and Ground Zero

Posted by Dave at December 22, 2002 11:57 AM